"The real proof is how do they take care of problems. I ordered 1Gb of RAM for my iMac, it came in 3 days (great!) but did not work. I called, in 5 minutes the teck told me yes send it back (no BS or telling me I screwed up), I requested a RMA, I got it a few hour latter by e-mail, sent the stick back and got a new one in a week.
They did a very good job.
The new stick is in and working fine. Any body can have a problem, but they did a very good job taking care of the problem.
Mike
In both cases, the first order and the replacement, the shipping was within a day.
"
"07/14/04
Ok, I will update this comment on the Chip Merchant online store as the story unfolds, so please bear with me and my typos. Here's where I'm at, after 2 days of my parcel arriving:
I ordered 6 copies of Norton Antivirus and none are the full OEM versions as implied in their product descriptions. I say "implied" because nowhere in the product description did I read these were nothing more than 90-day trial versions of the software I've been sent. I haven't opened a single one of the CD packets, and so none of the product has been used. In fact, these demos are pretty much completely useless to my clients and me.
I have sent 2 emails to the customer service address which have been to this point ignored. I have called the voice line both toll free and at my expense only to be cycled in an automated response system that has hung up on me every time. I want an RMA for refund, but this company seems to be unwilling to return my correspondences.
07/16/04
Ok, I'm appending and editing this comment as I promised. I finally got a hold of a CSR and she single-handidly fixed every problem I was having! She had me resend my email to her address and then contacted a Veep and the webmaster. Both claimed the disclaimer regarding the shortened subscription existed in the product description but allowed the CSR to resolve my problem. An RMA was issued as I had attempted contact with them within the 7 day window to apply for one.
While I'm not thrilled about being told I was mistaken (I don't think I was, but I'm not going to bicker over it), I can't offer evidence other than an email I sent to their tech support for clarification about the OEM CDs which was never answered. I guess I'm just relieved that they were able to fix it.
My problems with the phones apparantly is not something they have experienced before but I guess I just "mistakenly" was hung up on about 5 times this week. May be it's just not my week :-(
If and when my account gets reimbursed, I'll update accordingly. I just want to add that Deia is an awesome CSR.
07/27/04
I recieved an email indicating my account had been reimbursed for the RMA minus 15% restocking fee. I was also asked to submit a more detailed description of my problems with the phone system, which I did, and the company claims to be looking into it.
As far as I'm concerned, this case is closed. Would I order from thechipmerchant.com again? I'm not sure, but if had to, I'd go through the CSR to make sure I knew what I was getting. As usual, it wasn't the issue that I base my score on, but the recovery on the part of the reseller.
"
"Received what I ordered, on time and correct price, great packing, nice job."
"This is my fourth purchase from The Chip Merchant. I've previously bought two Celeron 366s (back in their heyday) and a PIII 650. All those CPUs overclocked very well.
My recent purchase was more extensive, an Abit BE7 motherboard, a P4 2.4 GHz / 533 MHz bus CPU, and a 512 MB stick of PC 2700 DDR ram. The Chip Merchant salesperson (Misty) was both patient and well informed when it came to answering my questions (on the phone) regarding things like the mainboard revision number, exact model of the mainboard (Abit made about 5 different BE7s, with a variety of features), CAS speed of the DDR, and the about the CPU (as to whether it was Boxed Retail or OEM).
All the answers were accurate, and unlike some other firms I have tried to do business with, I wasn't pressured to hurry up and order or else get off the phone.
The package arrived one day early, although UPS had worked their magic with it. It was very slightly crushed on one side. Opening it revealed no damage to the mainboard or other contents.
The mainboard, CPU and DDR all worked perfectly when assembled with the drives, power supply and case that I already had. Quite a nice step up from my PIII 650 (overclocked to 866) and all for under $350.
The system has been running for a few weeks now, and it happily overclocks to 2.75 GHz. The DDR is still at CAS 2.5, and running at 190 MHz (382 DDR) which is almost up to PC 3200 specs. And I still have not overclocked either the CPU or the DDR to their limit; I've had no crashes and don't know how fast the system will top out.
To sum up, buying from The Chip Merchant was again a good experience for me. If their prices were a little lower, they would be perfect. But I'm willing to pay a little more to be able to get a live human on the phone, especially a polite, knowledgeable, and helpful one. And they are glad to take your order over the phone, unlike some that force you to buy on a website.
Elam"
"purchased there before
"
"terrible. did not confirm w/ email. impossible to get a hold of on the telephone. i went w/ this company due to good reviews. very dissapointed. still don't know whats going on? get the feeling there are no actual people working at this company."
"I had good luck with this company in the past. Bought ram from them several times. However, the last time (a couple of years ago) I was buying for a dell and didn't know exactly what flavor of ram I needed. I contacted their sales people and they told me which part I needed, I bought it but it didn't work in the machine. Maybe a bad stick, maybe the wrong ram. They took the ram back but would not credit us the shipping either way. Since it was their person telling us what stick we needed, I felt that I should not have to pay for their error. Haven't bought from them since."